Not infrequently, law enforcement officers and medical personnel must handle individuals who have become temporarily unmanageable due to a physical or mental condition or because of the use of drugs or alcohol. In such situations, it is the responsibility of the law enforcement officer or medical attendant to restrain the individual in order to prevent such individuals from damaging property, other persons, or even themselves. Also, once properly restrained, it is almost always necessary to transport the restrained individual to another location such as a hospital or confinement facility.
At the present time, various restraint devices are used. In the law enforcement area, these include handcuffs, shackles and straight jackets. However, persons confronted with arrest or confinement frequently are quite violent and jerk and move all of his or her body parts in an effort to escape. In so doing, they can cause injury to themselves and to the law enforcement officers and others. Since handcuffs will only restrain the wrists and shackles will only restrain the ankles, these restraining devices do not prevent such individuals from using their head or their complete body in an effort to escape. Moreover, handcuffs and shackles have the potential of injuring the prisoner's limbs if secured too tightly, and in any event, many state laws prohibit the use of handcuffs for the purpose of restraint if they are attached to a permanent fixture. Thus, these presently used devices and methods do not provide for complete and safe restraint of an individual nor do they assist in transporting the individual to a confinement or other facility.
In the medical field, there are known and used backboards which are designed to permit transportation of an injured person usually to a hospital or trauma center for treatment. Such persons may be conscious or unconscious, and in either event, it may be necessary to immobilize the person's head, a leg, arm, back etc. to prevent further injury to the person. Such devices are designed to provide for such partial immobilization and also to provide for ease of transportation to a hospital or trauma center.
At the present time, there are no devices or equipment available to provide for complete restraint and transportation of unmanageable individuals. Since the primary concern of law enforcement officers as well as medical personnel is the safety of the subject individual, there is an unmet need for a means of safely and completely restraining such individuals while providing for the transport of the individuals to a confinement or treatment facility.
There is also a need for a restraining device that provides for complete restraint but which is simple to use and which enables the subject to be easily placed in it without use of excessive force. Such a device also must be humane and safe for the subject and must be easily transportable and easily cleanable.
There is a further need for a restraining device that can also be used for limited periods of time to control the subject after the individual has been transported to a confinement or correctional facility. Such a device should minimize the staffing requirements during this temporary confinement period.